Hpyerglycemic Effect of a Mixture of Sea Cucumber and Cordyceps Sinensis in StreptozotocinInduced Diabetic Rat

Sea cucumber and cordyceps sinensis are used as both food and traditional medicines in Asia. This study was carried out in order to investigate the hpyerglycemic effect of a mixture of sea cucumber （Apostichopusjaponicas） and cordyceps sinensis （Cor-dyceps militaris） （SCC） in diabetic rat and explore the mechanism underlining such an effect. The diabetic model rat was induced with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin （STZ）. The diabetic model rats were randomly divided into control group （0.9% NaC1）, low dose group （300 mg SCC.（kg body weight）-1） and high dose group （1200 mg SCC （kg body weight）-l）. Sodium chloride and SCC were intragastrically administered once a day for 35 d. Changes in fasting serum glucose and serum insulin content, oral glucose tolerance and liver and muscle glycogen content were routinely evaluated. Pancreas tissue and β-cells of islets were observed under both optical and transmission electronic microscope, respectively. The abundance of glucose metabolism-relating genes in gastrocnemius and epididymal adipose tissue was determined with either reverse transcription PCR （RT-PCR） or western blotting. Results showed that SCC significantly decreased fasting serum glucose content, improved glucose tolerance and increased serum insulin and glycogen content; repaired STZ-injured β-cells of diabetic rat, and increased the expression of phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase （PI（3）K）, protein kinase B （PKB） and glucose transporter 4 （Glut4） encoding protein in both gastroenemius and adipose tissue, and Glut4 encoding gene in peripheral tissue. Our findings demonstrated that SCC exerted an anti-hyperglycemic effect by repairing β-cells and promoting insulin-mediated signal transduction pathway in insulin-sensitive gastrocnemius and adipose tissue.

Composition analysis and hpyerglycemic activity of the fruit of Phyllanthus emblica L.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the hpyerglycemic activity and elucidate the active composition of the fruit of Phyllanthus emblica L.,an edible and medicinal plant used for traditional Chinese medicine and Tibetan medicine to cure the blood disease,bacon disease,liver disease,heart disease and hypertension.METHODS The LO2 normal liver cell lines were used to investigate the hpyerglycemic activity,The LO2 cells were treated with 100,200 and 400μg·mL-1 extracts of P.emblica L.;real-Time PCR was used to detect the expression of glucose transporter type 2(GLUT-2)and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ(PPARγ)mRNA.The PPRE(peroxisome proliferator response element)and NF-κB activities were detected by luciferase method.The chemical compositions were analyzed by HPLC-MS.RESULTS The expression of GLUT-2 and PPARγmRNA were significantly increased treated with 400μg·mL-1 extracts of P.emblica L.(P<0.05)and in a dose-dependant manner;PPRE activity was significantly increased in a dosedependant manner(P<0.05);however,NF-κB activity induced by LPS was inhibited also in a dose-dependant manner(P<0.05).The chemical composition analyzed by HPLC-MS showed that the gallic acid was the major component in P.emblica L.CONCLUSION P.emblica L.showed promising hpyerglycemic activity and the gallic acid was the main constituent.